A story about a TR
On the first Sunday of February of 2004 I awaited patiently at my desk well knowing that a Sony TR would arrive via UPS in a brown shipping box….I went along my day as usual. Woke up took a quick shower, didn’t have time to shave…..I grabbed a coke from the refrig and a piece of pizza left over from the night before….
When I arrived at work I had to let everyone know it was coming…..I thought to myself if was to arrive and just happened to walk off, I would have been devastated. So I told everyone that could come across it in my office. I told the janitors to my co-worker Sue that would never get up from her desk except to go home…
The day went by slow like the last day of school before a well planned vacation….I watch my clock as if I knew the exact time it was going to show up…In fact I just got off the phone with Shipping Carriers and they had no idea where my package was…
I was about to panic when I thought to myself that if it got lost that they would just send me another one…..But then I thought what if it has to be investigated if it was stolen…I could go a month before I saw “my precious.†I took a big breath….That’s not going to happen my….I said over and over again in my head “Its going to come in one piece today, tomorrow or the next day.
At the end of the day 10 minutes before my shift was over….I looked impatiently out the window of my office over ever car and truck that passed by…Oddly enough no car even resembled the color of a Brown UPS truck.
My friend then called me on my cell phone inquiring if I have received my beloved TR….I frowned and told him no….This friend is my very of best friends…We actually call each other bothers…since we are so close and we both don’t have one. He was with me a couple of weeks prior at Comp Usa having fun looking at laptops.
It had been awhile for me looking at these items…To the only ones I’ve seen is my wife’s mom’s old Sony picture book….I believed it was a few years old….But, I still drooled every time I saw it…I love this sub notebook for its size….I have always disliked big laptops and was fascinated on small compact ones…
One day my wife’s mom had bought a brand new notebook from best buy….My wife was out shopping with her….My wife told me about it….As if she just went in and spoke to a sales person and asked what was there biggest and best notebook…
I think her mom thought I was going to drool over this new one since she saw me do it with her picture book….Instead I pretended to be impressed and turned it on and poked some keys….
All I could think about was getting my hands on her slightly used picture book….In my eyes this was priceless….Well, knowing I would be able to buy a notebook for myself until I had some terrific job that came with six figures.
Instead of showing continued interested in her new over compensated notebook….I instead tried to eye out where her old one was….No, it wasn’t in the kitchen where I have always seen it since the first time visiting her house….I went upstairs to use there desktop to search the internet….And there it was like a old last seasons toy for a 7 year old kid…
A perfectly good working condition “dream†of a laptop….Sitting above some old books with its power cord unjustly wrapped in a ball over the casing….Where the plug could easily scratch the casing.
Why…why would someone treat there notebook like this…Especially this one….I went off into a daze and imagined myself writing award winning screen plays on it enjoying the ocean breeze and I sip on a bloody mary with a crisp celery stick…
Snap out of it I said to myself….This wasn’t going to be yours all of a sudden just because she got a new laptop…>Be realistic she’ll probably give it to one of her 4 daughters….My eyes rolled back into my head…
On the drive home my wife brought up the topic to my surprise…and said she would ask her mom if I could have her old picture book….
I went for days and even weeks without knowing anything….Then one day my wife said that she ended up giving it to one of her sisters going to law school.
At comp usa I went to glace over the new notebooks as if the were lined up for a beauty pageant….I took one look at them and my eyes meet with the TR3A….
This was a beauty….Stood out from all the rest…Even making the 12†power book look like a beast…I instantly was drawn even deeper in it memorized by its screen…I ask politely as I could impatiently wanting to hold it up and feel how light it was….â€ÂÂPlease someone can help me over here.â€ÂÂ
I a blue shirted polo shirt comp usa guy rushed over and unplugged the security device…As I picked it up I could see 3-4 employees staring at me….I guess they thought once someone takes one of these puppies out for a spin the don’t turn over the keys…
After I completely drooled all over the TR I handed back to the associate…My brother and I were totally blown away…>The whole time we were there, the whole time on the way back to my house, all that came out of our mouth is how wonderful it would be to have one….And how we would someday….
That night I briefly told my wife about a laptop that I had seen and liked….She nodded like usual things I would bring up that I wanted….like an expensive sports car or some other expensive toy we couldn’t afford.
Now a week went by with knowing I would not inherit the old picture book and pretty much any laptop…
They next day I woke up and looked out my bedroom I was blown away what I saw….There was pigs flying outside in my front yard….No not really but they could have been because my wife gave me the Ok> to order a brand new laptop….
I knew exactly which one I was going to get…It was the TR3A from Best buy online. As I typed the last key in my address and after hitting the finish button when I was finished ordering….I had a state of euphoria…. This was one of the greatest days of my life…
After I got off the phone with my Brother, I started to walk home….This was about 300ft….Not very far, I was the property manager and a apartment came with the job….I have been used to this ever since I first started to work out of college….It was decent amount of money and a free pad….
Right when I was almost to the staircase going up to my apartment some lights shinned behind me… I looked behind me and noticed it was a bright shinny UPS truck…My heart started to pound….1234….faster and faster like it was a count down…
The UPS driver said something but I couldn’t hear what it was with his huge diesel engine washing it out….I walked up to him….I noticed it was the delivery driver that is always in the worst mood….I actually felt sorry for him…It looked like he always unhappy with his job and he only worked with UPS because he had too…You could probably say this about most postal employees. But this guy was different…You could tell in his face and posture that he lived a very hard life…..
“Do you know if she’s home.†He pointed at my house….I was confused I pointed at my house as if I didn’t live there….Do you mean them….I thought in my head yes I am them….He has my package…..My lost package….I remained calm….
I asked him what he had and explained that my wife and I lived there….After all the confusion of then finding out if He actually had something for us….â€ÂÂI have a package in the back hold onâ€ÂÂ
At this moment I knew this had to be my TR that I’ve waited all my life for….I am a person that believe in fait and the TR was meant for me….He handed me a big enough brown box that was big enough to house the TR….
I told him about the story….The story of how much I wanted this machine…..I ripped the box open like it was my first Christmas…..â€ÂÂYes†I said….I saw it….It was official….I had the precious TR in my hands…..I at that moment and time I started danced around his truck… Don’t forget that this driver for UPS has been one of the most unhappy, grumpy people I knew….In spite off it all I continue to dance….
A new man….At that moment I became a new person and so did the UPS driver….I think the TR had been touched by an angel…..The UPS driver started to smile and became interested in what I was making this fuss over….So I told him….And he started to dance with me….
Few days afterwards I saw the UPS driver making his daily routines as he asked everyone in my office is this Chris’s package…..He was showing other of my associates packages he received that day hoping another would be mine….
As I look back on this day I think that we take these delivery drivers for granted….If we all showed them the love that I did….Maybe the would all show up on time and in one piece…
